Buying Gold Jewellery? Here’s What You Need To Know

Throughout history, gold has been treasured for its natural beauty and radiance. For this reason, many cultures have imagined gold to represent the sun. Often associated with the gods and immortality, this unique material has been a symbol of wealth and status.

Apart from its aesthetics, gold has a wide variety of industrial applications and can also be found in many of our electronic devices today. The intrinsic value of gold lies in its scarcity and applicability, yet assessing the true value of gold has always been contentious.

What Is Gold?

Gold is a dense and soft metal that is extremely malleable. In fact, it is so malleable that one gram of pure gold can be hammered into a sheet that’s one square metre in size! Gold is bright yellow in colour with slight tints of red.

Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a Group 11 element. This means that it is very stable and will remain as a solid under standard conditions, and also has good electrical and heat conductivity.

Gold is a naturally occurring element and scientists believe that it was formed when stars and meteors collided with Earth billions of years ago. Gold is found as nuggets or grains, trapped within rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits that are buried deep underground or under the ocean. Due to its scarcity, gold has always been highly sought after and was even used as a universal currency worldwide between 1871 to 1914 (The Gold Standard).

8KG Gold Nugget

An 8kg gold nugget found in Victoria, Australia. Wikipedia.

Gold As Jewellery

Gold is a natural choice for making jewellery as it is associated with rarity, wealth, beauty, and status. Besides, jewellers love to work with gold for many practical reasons.

Firstly, gold is a very unreactive metal that does not react with atmospheric moisture. Hence, it is highly resistant to rust and corrosion, and does not tarnish easily. Next, its malleable and ductile qualities allow it to be shaped into thin sheets, wires, and any other forms. Then, mix gold with other metals to form alloys that come in a gamut of colours – the possibilities of creating stunning designs with this material is almost endless.

The Karat In Gold – A Mark Of Purity And Value

The purity of gold is measured in karatage, with 24 karats signalling 100% pure gold. Although 24-karat gold is a popular jewellery metal in some parts of the world, it tends to be too soft and would go out of shape easily. Therefore, gold is often mixed into alloys, which are harder and more durable.

The alloys used for jewellery are usually 18-karat gold. 18-karat refers to a fraction of 24 karats, so that piece will contain 75% gold content. At State Property, this is also our choice of gold.

Another way of indicating gold content is fineness, which represents the purity in parts per thousand. When stamped on jewellery, this is usually stated without the decimal point. The purity of gold is normally engraved discreetly on the jewellery so look out for the quality mark to determine the fineness of the gold in a piece of jewellery.

750 or 18K : 75% Gold

916 or 22K : 91.67% Gold

999 or 24K : 99.9% Gold

The Different Colours Of Gold

YELLOW GOLD – TIMELESS AND CLASSIC

Gold is a precious and enduring element found naturally in a distinct yellow colour. The vibrant yellow hue of gold is maintained, whilst a mixture of silver and copper strengthens the metal.

Yellow gold is loved for its classic allure.

Advantages of Yellow Gold

Most hypoallergenic of all three gold colours
Easiest to maintain out of all three gold colours
Easily matched with diamonds of a lower colour grade

White Gold – Cool & Sophisicated

White gold is popular for its cool and clean lustre, making it easy to match with most styles and outfits. The warm radiant white colour in White Gold is achieved by a careful choice of the alloying metals, which bleaches the deep yellow of pure gold. The metal is further plated with rhodium to give it the shiny, bright silvery-white exterior that we see.

With time and wear, the rhodium plating might fade away to reveal a slight yellowish tone. While some might enjoy the warm white feel to it, you can make it look brand new again by dropping it off with your jeweller to have it replated.

Advantages of White Gold:

An affordable alternative to Platinum
Perfect for accentuating the sparkle and brilliance of white diamonds

Rose Gold – Elegant & Romantic

Also known as Pink Gold or Red Gold, the beautiful pink hue of Rose Gold is created by the copper composition within the metal. Rose gold does not tarnish easily, but like any other gold jewellery, rose gold jewellery needs to be polished and cleaned regularly to maintain its colour and lustre.

Regardless of your choice of Yellow Gold, White Gold, or Rose Gold, the overall gold content within the composition remains the same. That is to say, any 18K piece of all three gold types will always contain 75% pure gold.

Advantages of Rose Gold

Complements all skin tones
Considered by many to be the most romantic due to its soft pinkish-red hue

Other Gold – Rare & Unusual

Gold is also available in other colours but is less commonly seen or sought after. Unusual colours such as purple gold is an alloy of aluminium and gold, while blue gold is an alloy of indium and gold. Both purple and blue gold are rarely used in jewellery as they tend to be very brittle.

State Property’s Popular Gold Pieces

Drew Signet Ring

The Drew Signet Ring is a classic signet ring with a concave top that catches reflections brilliantly. It is named after Nancy Drew, a witty and dauntless storybook character who spends her time solving mysteries. Find out more about the Drew Signet Ring.

Boone Bangle

The Boone Bangle was designed to be worn effortlessly, and the shadows casted from the deep ridges creates a contrast with the polished surfaces. Find out more about the Boone Bangle.

George Ring

The George Ring pictured mirrors your fingers in the inner slope, revealing a secondary landscape. It is named after Georgina Kirrin, a headstrong and courageous girl from Enid Blyton’s Famous 5 series. Find out more about the George Ring.

References and further reading:

How Is Gold Formed? Origins and Process – ThoughtCo
10 Interesting Facts About Gold – ThoughtCo
Coloured Gold – Wikipedia